A recent consumer survey revealed that people both prefer to communicate personal information via voice, and appreciate the convenience of text messaging. By utilizing a voice-to-text system that transcribes voicemails into text messages or emails, people can experience the best of both worlds: The personal touch of voice and the convenience of text.

The evolution of technology has brought with it a need for speed and convenience, particularly in the way we communicate with one another. Today we can call, text, tweet, email, post to Facebook, video chat and more, all from an expanding lineup of devices. We’ve seen fundamental changes to the way we wish to receive messages, news, social invitations, and just about everything in between. While the spotlight is focused on these emerging trends, a glow is also cast on communication methods that were once commonplace.

Consider voicemail. Do you still use it? Do you regard it the same way that you did five years ago? Does the process of receiving, accessing and listening to a voicemail have a home in this age of instant texts and tweets?

According to a recent survey that examined text and voice messaging habits of smartphone users for communication with family, friends and co-workers, there appears to be room for voicemail in a smartphone world, with 62% of respondents indicating they would likely switch to a service that converts voicemails into text messages or emails instead of their traditional voicemail service.

This hybrid approach to messaging was shown to be valuable as the survey revealed that people see value in voice and text messages for different reasons. The primary distinction that emerged was that people prefer to communicate personal information via voice and appreciate the convenience of text messaging.

Here’s what respondents said about their use of voicemail:

79% said that receiving a voicemail is a more personal experience than receiving a text message.

80% of respondents said that they’d be more likely to use a voice channel, like voicemail, to report urgent news, such as a death or hospitalization.

57% said that it is perfectly acceptable to leave a voicemail when making an emergency call.

Voice messaging holds a firm edge over text when the sender wants to communicate something more personal. Despite that preference, voicemail just isn’t as accessible or convenient as text messages. With voicemail, the chance of your message going unnoticed for prolonged stretches is much higher. That’s part of the reason text messages have a distinct advantage when it comes to convenience, with the survey confirming that communicating via text is still the most popular medium.

85% of respondents found text-based messages more convenient than voicemails.

96% of respondents said that they are likely to read their messages and text back promptly.

57% of people are contacted via text more than any other form of communication.

It’s clear then, that voice and text messaging each hold advantages depending on the timing and content of the message. And today, they don’t have to be mutually exclusive: you can now get your voice messages converted to text and sent as SMS or emails.

Voice-to-text systems like Nuance’s Dragon Voicemail-to-Text offer us the convenience of a text message and the personal intent of a voicemail, enabling users to receive all of their voice and text messages quickly and conveniently.

User feedback indicates that Voice-to-Text services are highly valued by mobile subscribers, generating high NPS (Net Promoter Scores) – a metric that measures loyalty between a consumer and service provider – and recurrent use. Services like Voice-to-Text will help voice messaging stay centrally important to the ever-evolving mobile messaging landscape.

About Dan Faulkner

Dan oversees Nuance’s Voice to Text solutions, and has been an important part of Nuance’s business development and strategy since joining the company over a decade ago. Dan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from the University of Manchester, and two Master’s degrees in Marketing and Speech & Language Processing.